so, did they try to prevent him from getting hurt? and if they had just left well enough alone, his injuries would have been less than what he received, thus keeping him out of the hospital? yes, exactlywere they in a circus perhaps? nowas he a circus performer? nowere "they" the ones maybe holding a net under him? trying to catch him another way? good thought but no

was he driving a car? nowas he an athlete? no

were "they" referees, umpires? no

EliWas thinking saving as in saving from getting injured, not saving from death. Is this correct? pretty much, but as Booklover said they tried to prevent him from getting hurt rather than actually saving him

Sorry Strongplacebo...missed your post...By stopping him getting hurt, did they: keep him away from somewhere? out of the way of something/someone specific? make him wear something? administer some medical procedure? medication? none of these

was it just him they were trying to keep safe? yesis it relevant who he is no, ie is he in a position where he gets special treatment in terms of health and safety? royalty perhaps? none of these

was he at home? this at work? indoors? outdoors? actually he could be indoors or outdoors in a public place? no

EliI guess we better try to find out the setting then. Is it relevant what time of day it is? nomorning? daytime? night? sports involved? no hobbies?no any relevant objects? yes

Are they all part of group? sorry I'm not sure what you mean? or are 'they' bystanders that jumped in to prevent him from getting hurt? no

HuntinggirlIs it relevant who "they" are? Their relationship to him? To each other? How many their are? Not really, just that they didn't want anything to happen to him (in actual fact they were his family, but they could just have easily been a group of friends)

Did "they" know that in trying to prevent his injuries, they might actually worsen them? noRelevant? well they wouldn't have done it if they knew, but other than that, irrel

Relevant object /objects Larger than a car Smaller than a chair Somewhere inbetween this

EliDid an object fall down towards him? NoAnd 'they' prevented it from hitting him, maybe by pushing him aside? But by doing so they created a bigger accident? No

So they weren't trying to protect themselves from whatever it was, just him? Is there something specific we need to know about him as to why this was? Or is it simply that he was the only one in possible danger from it? Was the object an animal? An appliance? Was he told not to use something? Is this object something with obvious potential dangers?

So they weren't trying to protect themselves from whatever it was, just him? correctIs there something specific we need to know about him as to why this was? Or is it simply that he was the only one in possible danger from it? Nothing specific about him you need to know, but they had a reason to believe that he was more likely to get hurt in this way than someone else. He wasn't the only person who could possibly have been hurt thoughWas the object an animal? no An appliance? no Was he told not to use something? no Is this object something with obvious potential dangers? not really

So was the potential danger something that arose suddenly? no Was he in danger because of where he was standing/sitting? no Do we need to know what they were doing at the time? you need to find out what they did to try and stop him getting hurt, but other than that no

did they try to move him physically out of the way? or was it a long term kind of thing? ie did they give him advice? on how to handle something if it arose? and when it did he followed the advice and ended up even more injured?

Bookloverguess: was the object a window? yope trying to open a window and it started down on him--in the family's protection, he fell out? no

Damiadid they try to move him physically out of the way? or was it a long term kind of thing? long termie did they give him advice? no on how to handle something if it arose? and when it did he followed the advice and ended up even more injured? no

did he think the door was shut? YESbecause the door was shut, did he run into something else? when do you mean? When he got the injuries that put him in hospital the door was open

did he walk through the doorway and injure himself on the other side of the doorway? no

did he try to open a door that was already opened? no Maybe he leaned toward the open door to open it and once he realized that it was open, he lost his balance, fell, and broke a bone? this is very very close

so, we know that the family was trying to prevent him from getting "cuts" from the door. yes Was it important what type of injuries did he sustain? broken bones? gashes? it's not important what his actual injuries were, just how he got them, and you're very close to getting that.

so, he possibly leaned toward a door which he thought was closed, lost his balance and fell...i'm trying to visualize...were there steps on the other side of the door?

also, was is it relevant what type of glass door it is...regular one that swings open and shut or a sliding glass door?

can't remember if this has been asked, but is it relevant what type of house it is? it is a house, right? maybe a greenhouse? long shot: glass house? another long shot: they weren't in some sort of biosphere, were they?

so, he possibly leaned toward a door which he thought was closed, lost his balance and fell yes...i'm trying to visualize...were there steps on the other side of the door? irrel

also, was is it relevant what type of glass door it is...regular one that swings open and shut or a sliding glass door? no

can't remember if this has been asked, but is it relevant what type of house it is? it is a house, right? maybe a greenhouse? long shot: glass house? another long shot: they weren't in some sort of biosphere, were they? no, just a normal house with a glass door

BookloverI got so interested in the setting and what happened, I forgot to ask about the man...

is the man blind? and this is why he didn't realize the door was open already? no, but good thought!

Strongplaceboso he fell through the open door... yes did he land on something? was he carrying something? no, but see hint below...HINT: you are focusing too much on what happened when he fell through the door. He may have fallen onto steps or whatever, but he may equally likely have just hit his head on the ground-the important thing is that his injuries were enought to land him in hospital. You need to focus now on discovering the events leading up to him fallng through

From earlier posts I think the setting has been discovered, some family/friends try to stop him from going WHAMMO! into a glass door, so the next time, they opened it, but then he leaned against what he thought was a closed door, but then, SPLAT!!! Next hour... In the hopital?

did he trip on something right before he was injured? was someone chasing him? was he running? was he inebriated? was he carrying anything that might have helped him to lose his balance?

had he run into the door many times before? was there something special (as in happening) that day that made his family think, "you know, today we need to keep the door open?" is he the only one in the family who has run through the door, or were there others?

CrazypalpigFrom earlier posts I think the setting has been discovered, some family/friends try to stop him from going WHAMMO! into a glass door, so the next time, they opened it, but then he leaned against what he thought was a closed door, but then, SPLAT!!! Next hour... In the hopital? yes...you're practically there now

Bookloverso to focus on the events leading up to the accident:

did he trip on something right before he was injured? was someone chasing him? was he running? was he inebriated? was he carrying anything that might have helped him to lose his balance? no to all

had he run into the door many times before? well maybe not many but at least once...and that's the final detailwas there something special (as in happening) that day that made his family think, "you know, today we need to keep the door open?" is he the only one in the family who has run through the door, or were there others? irrel because you've got it!

**********SPOILER********************* Our hero and his family were in a house which had a glass door leading out to the garden. Unfortunatey, the glass door was particularly well cleaned and our hero walked straight into it without seeing it. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, but when he had left the room his family had the bright idea of opening the door, having horrible visualisations of it happening again and him plowing straight through the glass. Unfortunately, the next time he entered he room he leaned casually on the door, and fell through, cracking his head on the patio and ending up in hospital

Thanks to everyone who played my very first puzzle, and especially to Crazypalpig and Booklover for getting the final details!